The Impact Of Family Breakdown

This is family policy matters program is produced by the North Carolina family policy Council of profamily research and education organization dedicated to strengthening and preserving the family and elf in the studio. Here's John Rustin, president of the North Carolina family policy Council, thank you for joining us this week.

Profamily policy matters.

It is our leisure to have Dr. Mitch's been with us on the program's founder and president of the center of the American experiment, a nonpartisan think tank in Golden Valley, Minnesota that brings conservative and free-market ideas to bear on society's most difficult problems which formerly served in the US Department of Education under Presidents Reagan and Bush, and he spent four years as an editorial writer and columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer press. He is the author of several books including from family collapsed to America's decline in 2011 in his latest book is a follow-up to that, entitled broken bonds. What family fragmentation means for America's future in order to be talking today with Mitch about his new book, Mitch. Thanks so much for joining us on family policy matters great but you don't think well it's great to have you witnessed now in preparation for this book. Understand that you interviewed about 40 experts from both the political left and the right about the prospects of the American family.

Despite the different perspectives on through these experts held about the state of the American family. Did you see a common theme that emerged from your interview with a there were two little brilliant, not an overstatement from across the country. The true issues would be one. How does massive rates of family fragmentation. What do those rates suggest about the future of the country.

Good things, bad things overwhelmingly, although not unanimously people thought the not good things at all. The one area, perhaps where they were most uniform has to do with the degree to which classes are dividing in this country, or more specifically, I ask questions such as to what extent do you think Americans in the main have an adequate sense of the daily lives by poor people and everyone I asked that question two would say Americans in the main do not have a clue and the reason I ask these kinds of questions. If I were to just sit down with someone last month.

They might be and say hi how are you coming with the country's going to look like it could be very short conversation, but if I were to ask questions that the current situation and, more specifically the ways in which family fragmentation is affecting us now educationally and every other way. I work from the assumption that family fragmentation problems, just feed on themselves. Generation after generation getting worse and worse and if people are now saying that, in part because of family fragmentation that most Americans don't really have decent sense of how poor people live then chances are very strong that down the road. Americans in the main loan. Have a good sense of how poor people live in men who have been incarcerated for example, children growing up under very very difficult circumstances. People on the left generally focus exclusively on the economy and elitists and those Republicans most conservatives and most tax policies and Wall Street in my argument is no family fragmentation is an absolutely central reason why there are these glowing cleavages in this country now would you define the term family fragmentation for us to.

Our listeners may believe they have a sense of what you mean by that but I think it would be helpful for us if you can unpack a bit and help us understand exactly what you're speaking about and what factors contribute to family fragmentation American society. Sure, family fragmentation is the new term of art family breakdown. So essentially what I'm talking about. First of all would be enormous numbers of children born outside of marriage. I'm also talking about divorce.

I'm also talking about them happening situation which in and of themselves are not fragmented, but the cohabiting relationships tend to end a lot quicker than than marriages do. So think about nonmarital births, divorce, and people moving in and out of relationships very good sociologist Andrew Jerilyn talks about churning relationships. People in the United States move in and out of relationships about faster than any people around the world as to why all this is the case I long divided the explanations into three parts, and I'm not the only one. One would have to do a policy, conservatives like talking about how welfare policies, albeit with the best of intentions have led to family breakdown because it is now possible for women to raise their children without the help of a father because of welfare payments and melodic and too many men are more than happy just to skip out economically. One can talk now about how it is increasingly difficult for men without very much education to get a good job building a career to be marriageable in the eyes of many women. That's another reason the men or other economic reasons, but at the end of the day I'm on a culturalist what's in the very air that we believe that talks about what's responsibility responsible, smart not so smart right long and the fact of the matter is, it is simply now okay in many, many parts of this country. Many many communities to bring babies into this world outside of marriage. So many people do it because I can no Mitch, I know that you produced a report based on your book that offers nine suggestions for how we as a nation can respond to some of these problems the problem of family fragmentation. The first recommendation is that we retrieve our voice about marriage, explain if you would what you mean by that really give you a current example in in Minnesota. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has run a number of stories of the last several months about how child protection has failed miserably when it comes to over 50, 50 children who in the last decade have died, even though their cases have been known to various child protection authorities throughout the state and Minnesota is not the only state suffering that problem.

I know Colorado's doing major review right now. So there's a major review going on now, the governor appointed a task force to make certain that this doesn't happen again. And I can tell you the best of my knowledge, this very distinguished task force 30 some odd people. The good meeting for several months, the number of times they have noted that children who come into this life outside of marriage have a far larger chance of being abused until the number of times they have noted this connection is an absolute zero and this is not at all uncommon. Another important suggestion you make in the book and in this report is to more effectively help troubled or potentially troubled marriages are some specific recommendations that you give for helping troubled marriages will want to return to it automatically responsibilities of religious institutions and leaders only decide one fascinating idea.

Now I have a college professor William regarding Bill Doherty of University Minnesota wonderful social scientist family therapist who is of the mind that we will simply never have enough professionals out there marriage counselors and the rest to do what needs to be done to the extent that people want to go see such a person of marriages and some difficulty. So he's borrowing from an Australian program where doesn't build marriage precisely deals with mental health and the idea is to train some adequate way rank-and-file people to be good ears to be of help to friends and relatives who are having mental health issues because it's understood that people and having troubles are much more likely to talk to friends and relatives in Iraq to go see official therapist will he wants to expand this idea to include marriage marital first responders is the name of this idea that is just ending to take root to help people who want to help their friends and their relatives strengthen their marriages to get some training in order to do that and I don't know if this is going to work in any large-scale way.

It's a wonderfully grass real good idea.

You mentioned speaking about religious institutions and how they can get more involved in the effort to restore marriages based on your research your interviews with these experts and others. What do you recommend with respect to the role that religious institutions can play in this and also other ways that the government can help religious institutions fill this role within our society and to stay out of the way immediately serve in the rhetoric in this instance, government should simply stay out of the way, I am particularly interested in what churches and other religious institutions and religious leaders of all types can do to help matters. One of the interviewees in broken bonds. Some listeners may know or Krista Tippett is on National Public Radio. She was going through divorce, a number of years ago and she's very religiously animated woman and she said that her church at the time was wonderfully supportive as she was going through her divorce in hindsight suggests that the they should not have been all that supported the initiative. She says now friends and church so I suspect should have been more forceful, gracious ways in trying to keep her and her husband together. Fascinating thought the many ways when I talk about retrieving one's voice about marriage and applies absolutely to religious leaders to are simply not that forward been talking about why this is so important, that certainly makes perfect sense well. Is there hope for the future and if so, what words of encouragement would you provide to our listeners that yes we can change these trends, we can turn them around and and set our country on a positive path where there are stricken families and those bonds will strengthen our society. I would like to finish up happier note, the people, by the book down. One thing is organizations like yours keep on doing what you're doing only a polite, but let me give you an answer. I've uses and on over the years I had a chance interview Bill Bennett at the US Department of Education when he was secretary in the mid 80s as a secretary. It seems to me what we've been talking about is not just a bunch of policies and rules and rags and budgets and the likely been talking about the very culture have you change the very culture and he said it wasn't a very good question and the best answers he had was that you say what you believe in your heart to be true and you say it over and over and over again, and without oversimplifying matters in a way that is what I have sought to do for number of decades now. Any number of people tell me.

Thanks saying what I'm saying, doing what I am doing when it is not terribly complicated. It's in many ways restating all troops that for reasons of political correctness and the like.

People are not talking about anymore. Writing about. We need to think that's a great nation for all our listeners and we really do need to speak the truth, and even though we may think that that truth is self-evident based on political correctness is said and other factors in our culture. The media and others. Oftentimes what we think is obvious, may not always be obvious were accepted by the general culture so it is important that we get out there and we speak about the importance of families and and family structure and marriage in our society that we do certainly want to encourage our listeners a Mitch to get a copy of your new book, broken bonds and to learn more about the center of the American experiment were can I go to get a copy of your book and also to learn more about the center appreciate that it is where getting the book is Amazon and it's a Mitch Perlstein PEA RLS PIN and broken bonds with family fragmentation means for America's future and for the center of real simple website American experiment.org and we had been up and running come next month will be 25 years, by the way, we both opened up in 1991. Dr. Mitch Perlstein, thank you so much for being backless on family policy matters and for sharing insights from your new book broken bonds.

We appreciate that like you so much for your time and for your insight. Thank you sir family policy matters is information and analysis, future of the North Carolina family policy Council join us weekly discussion on policy issues affecting the family you have questions or comments, please contact 91 907-0800 visit our website and see family.org